Marti Calabretta
Party: Democrat
Age: 63
Personal: married to Bennie, seven children, five grandchildren
Education: Bachelor’s degree in English from University of Utah, 1963; master’s degree in social work from Graduate School of Social Work, University of Utah, 1966; certification in planning and administration, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Washington, 1980
Professional: Worked as a children’s mental health specialist in Moab, Utah, from 1972 to 1974; county coordinator for state mental health program in Shoshone County, Idaho, 1975 to 1981; social worker in private practice, Wallace, Idaho, 1981 to 1983; part-time social worker for School District 393, 1981-1986; coordinator, Silver Valley Natural Resource Trustees, 1993-2001; retired
Political: : Idaho state senator, 1984 to 1992, and 2002 to present; serves on the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Also served on Coeur d’Alene River Basin Commission, Idaho Board of Health and Welfare and Idaho Board of Environmental Quality from 1997 to 2002.
Key issues: Maintaining full funding for education in the face of pressure to fund a bailout for southern Idaho water rights holders; providing essential health care; legitimate economic development that benefits struggling rural areas, including such tools as local-option gambling for historic Wallace and repealing the “Right-to-Work” law
Money raised/spent: $4,900
Top contributors: Idaho Education Association PAC, $1,000; TTLA PAC, $1,000; Union Pacific Railroad, $1,000
Key influence: My Aunt Agnes, a public health nurse who worked for the National Tuberculosis Association
Favorite book: Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
First priority if elected: Refining the budget through control and oversight of state agencies like Corrections and Health and Welfare, to be able to work within our budget.
Website: http://www.idaho-democrats.org
